The Jonko Project Early Bronco Story
The Jonko.com team recently decided we have an affinity for the Early Bronco and have since been on a quest to create the ultimate old school SUV. The affinity is actually that of Jonko editor John Mosko but it has slowly been spreading with the recent purchase of the "Project Bronco."

So here's the story: John originally purchased a restored truck from Rocky Roads in Inglewood, CA. (Pictured to the left.) The RR truck was a 1968 rig with a 351 Windsor and a four speed NP435 trans. John drove the truck for about a year and then got the itch to build one of his own.

Realizing that a great many Jonko.com readers have an affinity for restored autos as well, John decided to make the whole process public. Throughout the early bronco pages here at Jonko, you will find details about the search, purchase, and re-creation of our rig. When it is done, we hope to have one great old truck.

Generally speaking, our gameplan for the rig was pretty simple. First, we needed to find a clean truck that was worthy of restoring. Ideally, the rig would have minimal if any rust, be structurally sound, have little or no body filler, and hopefully have some good options like power brakes and steering from the factory.

This truck would probably not be too hard to find if cost were not an object. Unfortunately, unlike companies that make big cash on the Internet, Jonko.com is an all volunteer outfit with no operating budget whatsoever. That said, cost was definitely an object. John would be paying for the truck with the cash he makes at his "real job" and we would help out by actively soliciting donations for the project online. (Learn more about donating here.) Although the restoration will be slower than that conducted by a team with unlimited funds, it will probably more closely mirror what many readers go through in deciding to undertake a restoration.

Goalwise with this truck we have a few situations that complicate our restoration. First and foremost, is that John has sold his other car prior to buying this rig. That leaves the project bronco as a daily driver and slightly complicated large projects as we need to find him alternate transportation during those periods. (John is getting to be a great cyclist...)(UPDATE 4/3/02: John now has an 88 Bronco II as a DD for the duration of the resto.)

Our hopes are to create a great looking rig that is also very trail-worthy. Our thought going in have varied from extreme to extreme. Do we want to make the ultimate off road rig? Or maybe just a true to stock classic. What about just cherrying it out for a great Daily Driver? Or should we maybe incorporate some combination of the three?

Update 4/3/02
Now that we are at the beginning of the tear down we have actually though about making some decisions. Take a look at our outline page for more specifics or visit the current status page for where we are now.